Polymeric materials derived from commonly employed monomers such styrene, α-olefins, acrylates, and the like generally display a low tendency to degrade over long periods of time. As such, polymeric materials in their various forms (e.g., plastics, adhesives, and coatings, etc.) may persist in the environment for potentially thousands of years. This waste not only takes up finite landfill space and contributes to unsightly flotillas of garbage in the world's oceans, but it also can have devastating impacts on surrounding ecosystem, such as through inadvertent ingestion of plastics by wildlife. Accordingly, there is considerable interest in the preparation of environmentally friendly, biocompatible, and non-accumulating polymeric materials which also display performance properties acceptable for a given application.